Macao is registering an average of roughly 118,000 daily visitors during the Labour Day Golden Week holiday so far, according to official data.
The Golden Week holiday, from 29 April to 3 May, is the first extended break since the pandemic in mainland China, which does not observe Easter. As such, Labour Day Golden Week is an important bellwether for the recovery of the nation’s tourism industry.
Macao’s daily average comfortably exceeds the government’s estimate of 70,000 visitors a day. More than half of all visitors have been arriving via the Border Gate checkpoint.
[See more: Macao wants more international visitors, tourism chief says]
Sunday’s total of just over 133,900 visitors set a post-pandemic record. However, over 128,600 people left the city yesterday – about 17,780 more than the number who entered, suggesting that many are visiting only for the day or staying for only a short period.
Cramming as much as possible into a short space of time has become a popular style of travel among young mainland Chinese, hoping to save money on hotels. Improved travel links also mean that Greater Bay Area travellers are able to easily return home at the end of a day’s sightseeing, instead of having to book a hotel.
In March, figures show that the average length of stay of guests shortened by 0.2 nights year-on-year to stand at just 1.6 nights.
